desensitisation
desensitisation — 名詞
1. the process by which a person's emotional feeling or physical reaction to someth
脫敏；去敏感
重複接觸刺激後反應減弱的過程
the process by which a person's emotional feeling or physical reaction to something becomes weaker after they have experienced it many times
Repeated exposure to violent images can lead to a dangerous desensitisation among young viewers.
反覆接觸暴力影像可能導致年輕觀眾產生危險的去敏感化。
The desensitisation of patients to common allergens is one goal of allergy clinics.
讓患者對常見過敏原進行脫敏，是過敏門診的目標之一。
collocation: desensitisation + to + allergen/stimulus
Nikos noticed his own desensitisation to city noise after living in Taipei for two years.
Nikos 注意到自己在台北住了兩年後，對城市噪音已經產生了去敏感化。
Long-term use of painkillers can cause a dangerous desensitisation to the body's natural warning signals.
長期使用止痛藥，可能會對身體的自然警告訊號產生危險的脫敏。
- numbing
more informal and suggests emotional contexts only
- habituation
neutral term used in psychology for reduced response through repeated exposure
- sensitisation
the process of becoming more responsive to a stimulus
用法筆記
Frequently followed by the preposition 'to' to indicate the specific stimulus (e.g. 'desensitisation to violence'). In medical contexts, also refers to a controlled treatment for allergies.
常見錯誤
desensitisation — 動詞
- desensitisationpresent simple I / you / we / they
- desensitisations3rd person singular
- desensitisationing-ing form
- desensitisationedpast simple
1. to make a person's body or a living organism stop reacting to a substance that p
使脫敏
降低身體對過敏原等物質的反應
to make a person's body or a living organism stop reacting to a substance that previously caused an allergic or immune response
Doctors slowly desensitised Beatriz to peanut protein by giving her tiny doses over several months.
醫生花了幾個月的時間，給 Beatriz 服用極小劑量的花生蛋白，逐步讓她對花生脫敏。
pattern: desensitise + person + to + substance
The clinic uses a special treatment to desensitise patients who are allergic to bee stings.
該診所使用一種特殊療法，讓對蜂螫過敏的患者進行脫敏。
Ryan was successfully desensitised to cat dander after a year of immunotherapy injections.
Ryan 接受了一年的免疫療法注射後，成功對貓毛屑脫敏。
A new tablet could desensitise children to dust mite allergies without injections.
一種新藥片可讓兒童對塵蟎過敏脫敏，無需打針。
- hypersensitise
specialised term, nearly synonymous in allergy treatment
- immunise
broader — can mean preventing disease, not just reducing sensitivity
- sensitise
to cause a body to react to a substance it previously tolerated
文法句型
desensitise + object + to + noun
用法筆記
Commonly used in the passive voice ('was desensitised') in medical case notes. The object of 'to' names the specific allergen or irritant.
2. to cause someone to no longer feel shock, sympathy, or disgust when faced with s
麻木；冷漠
使人對原本反感的事物不再有情緒反應
to cause someone to no longer feel shock, sympathy, or disgust when faced with something that would normally disturb most people
Years of reporting from war zones had desensitised Tariro to scenes of destruction.
多年來在前線報導戰區新聞，讓 Tariro 對滿目瘡痍的景象已經麻木了。
pattern: desensitised + person + to + situation/scene
Critics argue that violent video games may desensitise young players to real-world suffering.
批評者認為暴力電玩可能使年輕玩家對現實世界的苦難變得冷漠。
Kenji worried that working in the emergency room had desensitised him to other people's pain.
Kenji 擔心在急診室工作的經驗，讓他對他人的痛苦變得麻木。
Ritu believes that endless news coverage of tragedies can desensitise viewers to real human suffering.
Ritu 認為無止盡的新聞災難報導，會讓觀眾對真實的人間苦難變得冷漠。
- sensitise
to make someone more emotionally responsive or aware
文法句型
desensitise + person
desensitise + person + to + noun
用法筆記
Usually carries a negative connotation — the person is portrayed as having lost normal human empathy. Best distinguished from sense 1 (MEDICAL SENSITIVITY) by the context: emotional reactions rather than biological immune responses.
常見錯誤
3. to reduce the responsiveness of a cell or its receptors after the cell has been
使減敏
細胞長期受刺激後反應降低的過程
to reduce the responsiveness of a cell or its receptors after the cell has been repeatedly stimulated over a long period
Prolonged exposure to a strong scent quickly desensitises the olfactory receptors in the nose.
長時間聞到強烈的氣味，會讓鼻腔裡的嗅覺受器快速減敏。
pattern: desensitise + receptor
The nerve cells became desensitised to the pain signal after hours of continuous firing.
持續發出疼痛訊號好幾個小時之後，神經細胞對該訊號逐漸減敏。
passive: became desensitised to + signal/stimulus
Felipe's study showed that repeated drug use desensitises the brain's dopamine receptors.
Felipe 的研究顯示，重複用藥會使大腦的多巴胺受器減敏。
When taste buds are repeatedly exposed to very sweet food, they gradually become desensitised.
味蕾長期接觸非常甜的食物之後，會逐漸減敏。
- down-regulate
a more precise technical term for receptor-level desensitisation
- up-regulate
to increase the responsiveness of a receptor or cell
文法句型
desensitise + cell/receptor
be desensitised + by + prolonged exposure
用法筆記
Restricted to specialised biological or pharmacological writing. The subject is typically a cell, receptor, or neural pathway, not a whole person. Distinguish from sense 1 (whole-organism medical treatment) by scale: sense 1 is about a person's immune system, sense 3 is about individual cells.